Sunday, September 8, 2024

Peepshow Picture Frame

Another recent find to scratch off my velvety, Victorian era checklist, is this lovely double-door easel picture frame. Decent condition, the soft red velvet is noticeably worn in a a couple of spots, and a few threads are unraveling inside, and around the door edges. Something weighty must have been stacked on top of it for a spell as well, as the two ornate door handles are slightly bent inward. Originally behind the glass inside was a photo of a smiling elderly woman from the late 1800's. I removed the back from the frame to see if the picture contained any writing on the reverse, only to find the woman's funeral mourning card unfortunately, and unimaginably, snapped in half inside to create the extra padding needed within the framework to keep the photo from slipping off center. Wah! Too brittle to even attempt a fix / re-assemble, I went ahead and replaced granny with an early era penny arcade pin-up postcard from my collection. 

3 comments:

JMR777 said...

While this may be rather late, RIP granny, whoever you are/were.

The pinup and the frame seem to have been made for each other, fate or destiny finally brought them together, thanks to you Karswell.

Brian Barnes said...

I hope granny is OK with this change, or there's going to be a haunting at your house for sure!

That's a really good piece in really good condition. You keep finding a lot of really great survivors.

Mr. Cavin said...

oh that's very neat. The detail with the funeral card is priceless. The only covered frames like this I've ever seen have been Mexican and Indian religious wall hangings or home shrine decorations that have intricately decorated doors and saints and gods inside of them. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone do this for a dear departed ancestor before, but that's not really a whole lot different. And it certainly squares with what I know about gothic Victorian sensibilities.